by Joseph P. Tartaro
Executive Editor
Over more than 20 years as editor of Gun Week I have had occasion every four years or so to excoriate American sports reporters in general, and television in particular, for its failure to reasonably report on the shooting sports, especially during the Olympics. Then the Olympic schedule changed; the Winter and Summer Games were staggered so that while they each take place every four years, they were staggered so that the TV networks that bid so much money for exclusive broadcast rights would have some kind of Olympic sports programming every two years.
Of course, that change gave me an opportunity to whip them for their failings regarding shooting sports every two years instead of four. And, while I was preparing to do so again for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) suddenly surprised me.
They actually broadcast not just results but actual competition in several of the biathlon events this year—not just one competition—both men’s and women’s events. What was even more surprising was that on the morning of Feb. 18, Matt Lauer, co-host of the “Today Show,” did a feature on camera in which he went out with the US biathlon team, taking rifle instruction from Jay Hakkinen, and actually shot at the targets himself—on camera.
Lauer’s comments were friendly, interested and helpful. As a skier himself, he was better able to appreciate and comment on how demanding a sport biathlon is. Even Katie Couric, back in the studio, commented after the taped segment that it was nice that the biathletes finally got some recognition. Lauer’s comments were not as inane as a few of those from the voice-over reporter during the actual competition, particularly during one of the four 5-target shooting elements of each race. In one, while a German woman competitor (Kati Wilhelm, if I remember correctly) was shooting rapidly, the reporter said she was firing the bolt-action .22-caliber rifles “like a machinegun.”
Be that as it may, NBC and the “Today Show” producers deserve some recognition, and thanks, for finally covering one of the shooting-related Olympic sports more substantially than ever in the past, and for even doing a videotaped feature about the sport.
Print Reporters
NBC wasn’t the only news medium that took note of the biathletes this year.
On Feb. 14, The Buffalo News ran an interesting article on the biathletes written by Bucky Gleason, who was covering the Winter Olympics from Utah. Gleason began his piece with an anecdote involving two of the US biathletes, Jeremy Teela and Hakkinen.
According to Gleason, last fall Teela and Hakkinen were walking through a metal detector in the Munich (Germany) airport when they triggered the alarm system.
“German authorities made them empty their pockets and, whaddya know, out spilled a few rounds of ammunition.
“As you might imagine, the Germans weren’t amused,” Gleason continued. “They immediately hauled the two Americans into a room for interrogation. They wanted to know whether they were carrying guns. They wanted to know their purpose in Germany. Teela and Hakkinen came clean. They explained they were biathletes from America who arrived in Munich for a World Cup competition.
“ ‘Once they found out we were biathletes, we were OK,’ Teela said. ‘They started asking us questions about the sport.’ ”
Gleason continued by saying the security guards weren’t asking about the rules, since they knew them inside and out.
“No, they were interrogating them about who was going to win, whether a German had a chance. The two Americans in a matter of minutes had practically become celebrities. The guards were shaking their hands, wishing them luck before escorting them out the door and on their way.”
Gleason’s article went on to discuss how differently Teela and Hakkinen might have been treated at a major US airport, especially given the new nervousness since Sept. 11, and went on to explain how biathlon is a major sport in Europe, “the way football is here,” and how underfunded the sport is in the US.
Whose Fault?
Biathlon, like the shooting sports of the Summer Olympics, is indeed underfunded. In the Summer Games, the US Shooting Team, which gets more support from American citizens, makes a serious medal showing every Olympiad. But they get little, if any, general media coverage. There’s hardly ever anything on television and very little except scores in the print media.
Part of this is due to the hoplophobia of editors. Part is due to the fact that most sports reporters and editors don’t think anything is a sport unless it’s played with a ball, has a motor and wheels, or requires running for your life. Reporters like Gleason of The Buffalo News decry the fact that there is little knowledge of the shooting sports among Americans in general. But who is to blame?
The general media—with the help of anti-gun politicians and academics—has been intent on focusing on gun crime and depicting people who own and use guns legally in a bad light. Few schools encourage shooting sports at the high school or college level any more. With the volunteer army, most young Americans today receive no military marksmanship training, unless they are in the National Guard or reserves.
Shooting is not an extreme sport, and it hasn’t been as spectator friendly as some other individual and team sports. But it is one that requires as much training, discipline and physical fitness as any in the Olympics.
Maybe NBC TV did us a favor this year. Maybe Gleason and The News did too. Maybe Americans will begin to learn more about the good side of guns. It will be interesting to see how major American shooting competitions are covered in the coming months and how the rifle, shotgun, pistol and airgun of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece will be reported.
Results
I will conclude this column by reporting the results of the seven biathlon events that were completed before this issue went to press—the Men’s 4x7.5km Relay was scheduled to run Feb. 20. In these seven, no USA Team members placed in the top 10, but that’s not surprising. The athletes and coaches try mightily. It has been my privilege to know some of them personally. The US Biathlon Association, the governing body for American biathlon competition, also tries. But as mentioned previously in this column, until there is significant support from the public and from other interested parties, including industry, US competitors will finish out of the medals.
Here are the results so far (not necessarily in the order in which they were conducted):
For information on the sport of biathlon, or for membership and sponsorship information, contact: United States Biathlon Association, 29 Ethan Allen Ave., Colchester, VT 05446; phone: 800-242-8456; on-line: www.usbiathlon.org.